Calgary has rattled off three straight wins, and look to continue their strong play. With three days between games, the Flames cannot use exhaustion as an excuse. In the middle of a long five game, 20 day home stand, Calgary will be striving for all the points that they can muster. Upcoming in November, the Flames play ten of their fourteen games on the road.

Colorado continues it’s surprising start to the season. With back to back games in Edmonton and Calgary, the Avalanche opened their Alberta trip with a 3-0 shutout of the Oilers. With backup goaltender Peter Budaj recently falling victim to H1N1, the Avs recalled Tyler Weiman from their AHL affiliate in Lake Erie. It is yet to be seen when he will earn his first start of the season, however one could imagine it may come quite soon seeing as Craig Anderson has started every Avalanche game so far this season.
Last Season:

The Flames took last season’s series with the Avalanche by a wins count of 4-2. However, Colorado is the team to come out with the most recent victories, having beat the Flames in the final two games of the season series, by scores of 6-2, and 4-3.

Goaltenders:

Calgary- Fans can expect to see Miikka Kiprusoff between the pipes again for the Flames. So far this season Kiprusoff is sporting a 7-1-1 record alongside a 0.903 SV% and 3.10 GAA. His backup, Curtis McElhinney is 0-1-0 in one start, with a 0.862 SV% and 4.00 GAA.

Colorado- Starting goaltender Craig Anderson has proven so far this season that he is capable of handling regular duty. Being the only goalie to see crease time, Anderson has gone 9-1-2, with a 0.940 SV% and a 1.96 GAA. As mentioned, regular bench warmer Peter Budaj is currently out with H1N1, and youngster Tyler Weiman has been recalled to take his place. One wonders if he may soon see some action in relief of the busy Anderson.

Key Players:

Calgary- Starting the season with nine points in ten games, Dion Phaneuf seems to be on the rise back up from the “decline” that he suffered through last season. The star rearguard is an even +/- rating, and also has two powerplay markers to his name, alongside one game winning goal. Apart from this, Phaneuf has stayed out of the box so far this season, accumulating only 4 PIMs, meaning that his average ice time has hovered around 24 minutes per night. That’s a whole lot of Dion.

Following some time off due to injury, David Moss returned to the Flames line up versus the Oilers. With three goals in five games, Moss will be expected to start providing some more secondary scoring with his return.

Colorado- While Matt Duchene was the offseason youth infusion that had many fans excited coming into this season, Ryan O’Reilly is the youth infusion that has fans excited so far this regular season. Not to take anything away from Duchene, the youngster has six points in twelve games, but O’Reilly has been a key cog in the Avs offense so far this season. With ten points in twelve games, the 2009 second-round draft pick has surprised many people so far this season.

With many young players stepping into leadership roles and taking on more responsibility, Marek Svatos was expected to do the same this season. However, in a year full of excitement and surprise in Denver, Svatos has been a disappointment. With only three points in twelve games and a -6 rating, the Avs need more from this Slovakian winger.

Tough Customers:

Calgary- With Brandon Prust out of the lineup last game, Brian McGrattan was the knuckle chucker to be watching. With his tenacious attitude, the former Ottawa tough guy will be patrolling the ice for the Flames tonight.

Colorado- With Cody McLeod currently out of the lineup, David Koci is the go-to rough and tumble character in the Avs lineup.

Special Teams Review:

Calgary- The Flames powerplay has cooled off as of late, but is still operating at a 32.3% efficiency rate. Rene Bourque and Dion Phaneuf lead the team in powerplay markers with two apiece. The Flames penalty kill, following early season struggles, has recovered to 76.2% efficiency. This is still an area in need of improvement for Coach Sutter and the Flames.

Colorado- The Avs powerplay is firing away respectably at 25.5%. With three powerplay goals, Avs sniper Milan Hejduk leads the team. Colorado’s penalty kill is finding success early in the season, with a 85.2% efficiency.